"Hmm?"
Qi Shiyun's expression shifted slightly. Her long saber swept upward, clashing squarely against an incoming ring-pommel saber with a thick spine and a single keen edge.
*Clang!*
As the two blades collided, Qi Shiyun was actually jolted back a step.
Lin Xiangwen was yanked back from the gates of the underworld.
The bell at her waist gave a soft ring. Letting out a cold snort, Qi Shiyun abandoned her blade altogether and rested her right hand directly upon the bell.
Seeing her motion, the newcomer's eyelids twitched, and they hastily called out, "Hold on! Madwoman Qi, I didn't come to fight you to the death!"
An extremely dangerous aura radiated from Qi Shiyun. "Zhuo Biyu, this is the second time. For Lord Heavenly Sword's sake, I won't hold it against you. If there is a next time, I'll shatter your blade."
At those words, Zhuo Biyu flared up in anger as well, pointing a left finger at Qi Shiyun and cursing, "When you disguised yourself as a man and deceived me back then, why weren't you talking this tough? You bastard, the moment you pull up your pants, you drop the act entirely, don't you?!"
Lianshan Xin: "??"
*Wait, that's way too much information at once. My head can't keep up.*
Qi Shiyun's pretty face flushed crimson. She glared at Zhuo Biyu once more. "I've already told you, that was a misunderstanding!"
"Misunderstanding, my ass! My father set up a martial tournament to win my hand! Were you blind?! You fought your way through the whole damn contest, and only when it came time for the bridal chamber did you tell me it was a misunderstanding?!"
The more Zhuo Biyu thought about it, the angrier she grew.
Lianshan Xin: "??"
The pile of information was getting bigger and bigger.
Yet he seemed to be piecing it together.
Tanhua Qi was truly something else.
No wonder people always said a name might be mistaken, but never a nickname.
Still, one question lingered in Lianshan Xin's mind.
With Tanhua Qi being so well-endowed, how in the world had she managed to disguise herself as a man?
Could such bountiful assets really be hidden away?
"Brother, are you having trouble wrapping your head around their tangled mess of a relationship?"
A chuckling voice sounded right beside Lianshan Xin's ear, startling him.
Only then did he realize that, at some point, a man built like an iron tower had appeared beside him.
With shoulders like a tiger's and a waist like a bear's, a face full of bristling beard, and bronzed skin over bulging muscles, anyone could tell at a single glance that this was a peerless, ferocious warrior.
By all rights, someone of such stature could never walk without making quite a racket.
Yet Lianshan Xin hadn't heard a single sound.
That could only mean one thing:
A master.
Then again, the Nine Heavens had no shortage of formidable experts, so it was hardly a surprise.
Acting naturally familiar, Lianshan Xin struck up a conversation. "I was just hoping to ask you for guidance, sir."
"Heh heh, it's quite simple. When Tanhua Qi was younger, in order to cultivate, she deliberately disguised herself as a man to get close to all sorts of beauties—especially those with great backgrounds who were exceptionally gorgeous. Believe it or not, women like that invariably bring trouble. And to Tanhua Qi, trouble meant progress. That's why her cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds, though she offended more and more people along the way."
Lianshan Xin was at a loss for words. "Tanhua Qi's path of cultivation is certainly... unconventional."
"Unconventional doesn't begin to cover it! She even dared to flirt with the Crown Princess! Tsk, tsk, a true role model for our generation."
Lianshan Xin's eyes flickered. "May I ask your name, sir?"
"Tian Ji. Just a nobody; you definitely haven't heard of me."
Tian Ji was a newcomer to the jianghu. He knew many people, but very few knew him.
Lianshan Xin's reaction, however, was entirely different from what he expected.
"Tian Ji? Do you happen to race horses?"
Tian Ji was thoroughly taken aback. "How did you know I like horse racing?"
Lianshan Xin pressed his lips together.
With a name like that, how could he not race horses?
Tian Ji was even quicker to warm up than Lianshan Xin, perhaps bordering on talkative.
Pulling Lianshan Xin along, Tian Ji continued his monologue: "Speaking of which, Tanhua Qi treated Zhuo Biyu fairly enough. Though she ruined her bridal tournament, she introduced her to Lord Heavenly Sword. But Zhuo Biyu's family martial arts center on the saber. Even after becoming Heavenly Sword's disciple, she spends every day practicing saber techniques. Within the Heavenly Sword lineage, she's an oddball. Yet among the younger generation, this very oddball suppresses all the swordsmen of the Nine Heavens so thoroughly they can't even lift their heads."
At this point, Tian Ji chuckled again. "If Zhuo Biyu ends up taking over Lord Heavenly Sword's mantle, the Heavenly Sword lineage might turn into the Heavenly Saber lineage. Wouldn't that be something?"
Lianshan Xin found it fascinating as well.
Beyond that, however, he sensed just how fierce the internal rivalry within the Nine Heavens truly was, along with Zhuo Biyu's sheer talent—and the casual ease Tian Ji displayed when discussing such matters.
"In that case, Zhuo Biyu counts as the young master of the Heavenly Sword lineage."
"Pretty much," Tian Ji affirmed.
"And which lineage's young master might you be, sir?" Lianshan Xin asked politely.
Tian Ji gave Lianshan Xin another surprised look. "Was I really being that obvious?"
Lianshan Xin told the truth. "Quite obvious, yes."
Even if Du Jiu and Qi Wenbin were given all the courage in the world, they wouldn't dare utter the gossip he had just heard.
Tian Ji had dared, and without the slightest trace of fear in his tone, completely embracing the mindset of someone enjoying a good show.
Such relaxed nonchalance could only belong to someone at the same level, or even higher.
"Then take a guess—which lineage do you think I belong to?" Tian Ji asked.
Lianshan Xin thought for a moment before offering his guess: "Heavenly Divination!"
Tian Ji was astonished. "You even guessed that?"
Lianshan Xin smiled. "I'm good at observing."
The young master of the Heavenly Sword lineage wielded a saber.
So it made total sense that the charlatan successor of the Heavenly Divination lineage would be a towering iron brute, didn't it?
Tian Ji gave Lianshan Xin a thumbs-up. "Brother, your eye is remarkable! I'd say you have the makings of the Nine Heavens in you. In the future, you could well be called the Heavenly Eye."
Lianshan Xin didn't bother with false modesty. "May your words come true, Brother Tian. That is indeed my goal."
Great Yu did not govern solely through Confucian restraint; for the young, a touch of arrogant ambition was only natural.
Tian Ji laughed heartily. "May I ask your esteemed name, brother?"
"Lianshan Xin."
"The Lianshan clan? Descendant of Shennong?" Tian Ji's expression turned solemn with respect. "Brother, you bear a truly venerable surname."
Lianshan Xin waved a hand. "Any mortal who has survived down to this day shares the bloodline of Yan and Huang. My ancestors were merely ordinary farmers."
The Lianshan clan, also known as the Shennong clan, bore the surname of the Flame Emperor. The Flame Emperor was the primal ancestor of humanity in ancient antiquity, already a legend from ten thousand years ago.
As the world changed and dynasties rose and fell, descendants of Shennong were no longer of much account; it was the descendants of the Xia imperial clan who held true value now.
Reflecting on it, Tian Ji agreed.
While he and Lianshan Xin were happily conversing, Qi Shiyun and Zhuo Biyu finally set aside their dispute.
"Tian Ji, come perform a divination. See if he was framed," Zhuo Biyu called out. "I don't particularly trust Madwoman Qi's character."
Tian Ji didn't trust it much either.
So he pinched his fingers together, calculating.
A moment later, his expression changed drastically.
Zhuo Biyu looked slightly surprised. "Did this fellow truly collude with the Demon Cult?"
Tian Ji said, "I couldn't divine anything."
Zhuo Biyu was speechless. "Then why did your face twist like that?"
Tian Ji frowned. "My strength is above his. This is my very first divination as the successor of the Heavenly Divination lineage stepping into the jianghu—why on earth can't I deduce his background?"
Zhuo Biyu froze.
Then, she turned a chilling gaze toward Lin Xiangwen. "Seems I underestimated you."
Lin Xiangwen's heart plunged into a bottomless abyss.
What kind of grand figure was he to deserve a joint interrogation by the young masters of three separate Nine Heavens lineages, let alone serve as the subject of the Heavenly Divination successor's very first divination in the jianghu?
At the thought, Lin Xiangwen let out a bitter smile. "Why would the Nine Heavens send three young masters together to Jiangzhou?"
Tian Ji answered solemnly, "Naturally, to aid the weak against the strong, and to slay demons and eliminate evil."
Lin Xiangwen sighed heavily. "Very well. If I continue to resist, it would truly be uncivil of me. Don't kill me. I'll confess! I know where Thousand Faces is hiding—"
Before Lin Xiangwen could finish his sentence—*Thud! Thud! Thud!*
Two sabers and one sword instantly plunged straight into his body.
Even Lianshan Xin was startled, let alone Lin Xiangwen.
Staring in shock at Qi Shiyun, Zhuo Biyu, and Tian Ji, who had abruptly moved to silence him, Lin Xiangwen let out his final cry before dying: "Weren't you supposed to aid the weak against the strong and slay demons and eliminate evil?!"
Tian Ji replied with utter gravity, "Old Demon Thousand Faces is just too damn strong."
Lin Xiangwen died with his eyes wide open.
Chapter 67